


Where Does That Go?

by alexygalexy



Series: Voltron Week 2016 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, allura is a prissy toddler and i love her, also this is unedited so rry, pre-zarkon altea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 03:59:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7742485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexygalexy/pseuds/alexygalexy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfor decides its time for Allura to meet his lion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Does That Go?

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification: Alfor is the original Yellow Paladin in this fic

Allura bounced happily on her father’s shoulders, his large hands holding tightly to her legs as they ran down the hall of the Castle of Lions together. Allura threw her arms out to the side and felt the air rush against her palms and giggling even louder than her father, whose booming laughing bounced off the arching ceiling of the bridge. Her grin split across her whole face, seeming to illuminate her surroundings with pure happiness. Her hair was messy and wild, falling out of the two buns she had wound atop her head and trailing down in frizzy strands which floated every which way and then some.

 

Allura reached down her right hand to tap her father on the shoulder. He barely took notice, bringing the two of them into a sharp and swooping turn. Allura shrieked with both joy and fear as her father leaned sideways, tipping her off balance and closer to the ground. Just as she felt she was about to fall, Alfor straightened up and slowed down, ready to take a break from the running. Allura tapped his shoulder again.

 

“Dada, where does that go?” Allura asked, pointing a chubby finger towards the metallic doors embedded in the base of one of the support pillars. There were four others, all identical and spaced evenly around the circumference of the room. Allura had seen her father and his friends go through the doors without even touching them, but she couldn’t get any of them to open for her (not even when she pulled her hair over her face to look like Alfor’s beard and talked in a very deep voice that definitely sounded like him). 

 

“That’s one of the special elevators,” Alfor explained, lifting his daughter off his shoulders. Her legs wiggled in the air as he lowered her back to the ground. “They take you to far away parts of the castle really quickly.”

 

Allura’s eyes widened. “How quick? Like … SUPER quick?”

 

Alfor chuckled before answering. “Yes, super quick.”

 

“Dada can we try?”

 

Alfor paused for a moment, eyes downwards in thought. Looking back up to meet his daughter’s gaze, he replied, “I think you’re old enough. You ought to know what kind of things we’ve got hidden in this castle. Let’s go!”

 

Alfor grabbed his daughter’s hand and led her towards the elevator off to their left. Allura resisted, straining towards one ahead and off to the right. “I wanna go in  _ that _ one, Dada.”

 

“We can’t darling, that one won’t open for me. Only this one will. If you wanna go down, we have to take this one,” Alfor explained. Allura pouted, but obliged and followed her father leftwards.

 

The doors in front of them slid open with a soft wooshing sound, revealing a small chamber inside. Alfor crouched down, grabbed Allura by the waist, and lifted her onto his shoulders again. 

“Allura,” he said with a stern edge, “I need you to hold onto my neck and not let go for this whole ride, ok? No matter what?”

 

“Ok, Dada,” she agreed, reaching her small arms around her father’s neck, shifting her head to the right so she could see. 

 

Alfor stepped into the elevator, turning around to face the doors as they closed. The elevator began to move underneath him, descending at a rapid pace. Soon, another set of doors opened in front of them, flooding the chamber with a yellow light. 

 

“Ready, kiddo?” Alfor asked, not waiting for an answer before he leaned forwards and grabbed onto the handle which was hanging ready in the doorway. He pushed off the elevator floor, letting the mechanics of the handle kick in, pulling him and Allura steadily downward through the air of the yellow hall.

 

Allura was dumbstruck, watching the yellow strips of light whiz past her face as her father flew downwards. She couldn’t believe how  _ cool _ this was. A secret tunnel where you got to hang onto the ceiling and fly? She wished she could come play in here every day. It would be the perfect place to play spies. 

 

She was jerked forward as Alfor let go of the moving handle, free falling through a tube ringed with more yellow. Her hair blew across her face and she sputtered, trying to rid herself of the strands without removing her hands from around her father’s neck.

 

Only a few seconds later, she felt a jolt as Alfor landed in a kind of speeder car. He revved the engine immediately and they were moving forwards again. The walls streaked by, blurring as the speeder accelerated. 

 

They were quickly engulfed by a flow of light. As Allura’s eyes adjusted, she realized she was on another elevator, this one designed to fit the speeder in it. This one, however, was not enclosed. She looked out at the chamber of the ship as she and Alfor rose slowly upwards. They seemed to be in some kind of column, but Allura had no idea where she was anymore. She was amazed at all the hidden wonders her castle had to offer. She wondered how many more there were that she didn’t know about. 

 

The elevator ground to a halt, and Alfor exited the speeder, stepping off the platform as it began to descend again. He lifted Allura off his shoulders, holding her in his arms as he turned around to show her their final destination. Allura squirmed frantically, dropping out of her father’s arms in an attempt to reach the mass in front of her faster.

 

It was a lion. A giant metallic lion, bright yellow and menacing, and she couldn’t get to it fast enough. She sprinted forwards, pressing her hands to one of its massive paws. She would’ve expected it to be cold, but the lion seemed to contain a warm buzz, as though it was somehow alive. She ran her palms across the surface, pressed her cheek against it, and attempted to climb onto the paw only to find herself slipping backwards off it.

 

She stepped back, as if just beginning to understand the size of the lion. In an instant, she was running around it, weaving between the legs and jumping to see if she could reach its curled tail (she didn’t even come close). She made several circuits around the lion, constantly looking upwards at what seemed to be an infinitely tall animal. She wondered if she could ever climb all the way to the top. She was determined to cry. 

 

She took yet another lap, this one slower as she tried to determine the best point to begin her ascent to the top of the lion. As she came back around to the front where her father stood watching her with an amused smile, she stopped dead in her tracks. The lion’s eyes were lit up now, glowing white. Its joints shuddered and it began to move.

 

Allura backpedaled into her father’s legs, never taking her eyes off the structure in front of her. It arched its back, curving upwards as though it had just woken up from a long sleep. Its humongous paws lifted off the ground as it shifted its weight from side to side, padding with a surprising lightness given its size. It’s tail flicked back and forth in a lazy arc. Finally, the lion settled again, it’s gaze now fixed on Allura and Alfor.

 

“It moves,” Allura whispered, in complete awe of what she had just witness. 

 

“It does indeed,” Alfor commented. 

 

Allura took a few steps forward, heading right towards the lion, but stopped in her tracks as a noise filled the room. It was a deep and menacing rumble, almost throaty. The lion’s mouth was open, and it was shifted back onto it’s hind paws in a defensive stance. The yellow lion was hissing at her. 

 

Alfor grabbed Allura’s shoulder, drawing her close to him. It wasn’t safe, they needed to go. He turned back towards the elevator, pressing the button to call the speeder back up. Allura didn’t follow. Instead, she sat on the ground and began to cry.

 

“Daaadaaaa,” she wailed. “It haaaates meee. I did n-noothing and it haaa tes me! This isn’t faaaaiiiir. I wan - I want-t - want to p-play with it but it h-h-h-hates me” Her words soon became lost in the sniffles and sobs. The lion was no longer hissing, but it still stood back in its defensive position, eyes locked on Allura. Alfor feared what it might do to her. He wasn’t sure if he could stop Yellow if it tried to attack. He readied his bayard in case. The speeder elevator neared the top. 

 

“Allura, you’ve seen the lion now. Let’s go.”

 

“NOOOO!” Allura screamed. “I’M NOT LEAVING UNTIL IT LIKES ME. I’M GONNA MAKE IT.”

Her face and dress were stained with tears, her hair sticking to her wet face, her hands in pudgy fists pounding the platform. Alfor knew the consequences of disturbing his daughter during a tantrum would not be good (he REALLY didn’t want to be bitten again), and the lion had relaxed slightly. He stayed close to Allura but made no move to force her onto the speeder. 

 

He knelt down next to her, rubbing his hand along her back to calm her. Her sobs faded into little hiccups and tears stopped streaming from her eyes. She was only pounding the deck half-heartedly now. She looked up at Alfor, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears. 

 

“W-why doesn’t it like me, Dada,” Allura blubbered, rubbing the snot from her nose onto her dress.

 

“Because, dear one,” Alfor said soothingly, “You have to earn its trust. I did too, when we first met. This lion has a conscience of its own, it will only accept certain pilots. You must prove yourself to it before it will let you inside.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Allura set her jaw, and held a hand out in front in front of her. She didn’t move, except for a slight wiggle of her fingers. Alfor had seen her make this move many times before, as she waited for all kinds of Altean animals to approach her hand so she could touch them. Allura had an odd knack for getting them to come. She had far more patience with animals than most children her age (though what she had in patience with animals, she lacked in patience regarding pretty much everything else). Alfor chuckled at his daughter who sat like a rock, waiting for a giant robotic lion to come sniff her hand. 

 

Yellow tilted its head ever so slightly, then shifted it weight back onto its front paws with a cautious slowness. It’s tail again swung steadily behind it, showing that it had relaxed slightly. It lifted one paw and moved it a few feet forward. Pausing again, it held Allura in its gaze. She did not move. Yellow lifted another paw, then another, and another; approaching Allura at a painstakingly slow pace. Alfor could feel the tenseness between them dropping away. 

 

Yellow stopped moving once again, now only a few feet from the Altean princess. It looked at Allura and she met its gaze. They locked eyes for a moment before Yellow bowed its head so it almost touched the floor. Allura leaned forwards and placed her hand on Yellow’s nose. They remained there for a moment or two, then Yellow drew its head back. Allura brought her hand back towards her body as Yellow opened its mouth wide, dropping low to the ground and allowing a lit ramp to unfold directly in front of Allura

 

The lion remained perfectly still, as if waiting for someone to enter. She glanced back at Alfor for permission before scrambling up the ramp and into the head of the giant lion. As she moved further and further into the ship more and more lights lit up, leading her directly into the control room. She pulled herself up onto the cushioned chair, laughing ecstatically as it shot forwards to the control panel. Even though the chair did pull as far forwards as it could go, the lion was not designed to be piloted by an Altean toddler. Allura had to tuck her legs underneath herself and lean forwards for her fingertips to even brush the control panel. It came to life underneath her touch, buttons and gauges and sensors flashed in front of her, though she had no idea what any of them meant.

 

_ Now, Yellow, _ thought Alfor at his lion, _ Allura’s a great kid but I think we both agree she shouldn’t be piloting a warship just yet. If she hits any buttons, don’t take the command, yeah? _

 

“Hey!” Allura called out.

 

“What, Allura?” asked Alfor, confused.

 

“That’s mean,” she pouted.

 

“W-what’s mean?”

 

“Not letting me pilot the ship. I wanna.”

 

Alfor jerked back in surprise. “You heard that?”

 

“Yeah,” Allura said as though it made utter sense. 

 

“I didn’t say that out loud,” explained Alfor. “How could you have heard it?”

 

“What do you mean you didn’t say it out loud?” Allura was thoroughly confused. She had definitely heard her father’s voice speaking a moment ago.

 

“I didn’t say it, I thought it. To Yellow. We can hear each other think. How did you possibly hear that.”

 

A wide grin split across Allura’s face.  _ Yellow let me hear it, _ she thought at Alfor.  _ Yellow likes me. I get to hear the thinking too. _

 

Alfor was astounded. It usually months or even years for paladins to form this kind of bond with their ships. Allura had waltzed in and figured it out in less than five minutes. Maybe it had something to do with being a child. She trusted more, perhaps. She was not as skeptical of the bonds existence. Or maybe it was a sign that she was destined for something greater. The Lions had powers science couldn’t explain. Perhaps they could tell who she would become, they knew they would have to trust her beyond measure in times to come. They could sense, even now, the greatness she held inside. 

  
_ I’m glad, little one. I’m glad to know the lions are on your side. _

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Voltron Week 2016 Day 2 (Theme Lions/Voltron)
> 
> I love toddler Allura so much I didn't do her justice here I'm sorry...


End file.
